The Hobbit Hole XXXVIII - There and Back Again!

[SuziQ]

Oh, it’s a nice van, too! I like the color! Same color as my very first brand new car, also a minivan, but a Ford. Got it just before our 25th anniversary!

[SuziQ]

Oh my! That was truly a labor of love!

[SuziQ]

So, where’s he workin? Clare gets home next week, and Joseph the week after. Both will be looking for jobs. There are quite a few available in the area, so I hope they’ll both get lucky!

[SuziQ]

But it’s working in concessions (that would be beer) for the local minor league baseball team.

He'll certainly be a popular fellow at the games!

[SuziQ]

WooHoo. Funkling like in the old days!

[300winmag]

Tonight's Saturday Night Gun Pron will be followed by a Sunday supplement (probably on Monday), due to the large amount of small activities during the week. First, the biggest news first.

I adopted another carbine today, a H&K SLC-45. The owner of the EBR store admitted that it had been taking a spot in the display rack for over two years, and the only reason he had it was because it was part of H&K's "take it or leave it" package to get the other items he wanted. Sooo, after a bit of friendly bargaining, I came home with this under-appreciated cutie:

While it's nice, it's also lacking some refinements due to the "assault weapon" ban when this model hit the market. Ten-shot mag, funky non-folding stock, and lack of flash hider, among other things.

The first thing I did was to try to improve its self-esteem by adding what I had knocking around the basement. An Eotech, a Sig light-laser combo, and a GG&G of Arizona gangsta grip helped a lot.

Then I stopped by at HKparts.net, where I've scored so many goodies from my earlier GSG-5 and HK91 and SP89 upgrades. Sure enough, the FBI is not trusted with the full-auto version of the UMP, so there exists a semi-auto lower receiver that will allow the more natural folding stock, and the SMG's 25-round magazines. And, another quality dummy suppressor to hide the exposed part of the 16-inch barrel. The UMP, which also comes in .40S&W and 9mm, just has a couple of inches of flash hider sticking out past the front sight.

Aside from a certain degree of coolness, I see the UMC as a viable "residential area" long gun. For one thing, I can use up the rest of my .45ACP +P ammo, which should really have some zing out of a long barrel. Second, it should still give me more reach than the generic AK47, and the generic zombie behind it. Stay tuned, this project probably has several more weeks to run.

Another unexpected item arrived this week. A $138 South Korean clone of the $260 Beta C-mag. This is the hundred-round double-drum 5.56mm magazine that so many shooters, in and out of the military, either love or hate, if the can get their hands on one in the first place. I never wanted to shell out $260 for the real deal, but felt I could trust Victory Industries enough to risk $138. Here it is, adding a bit more bulk, and a lot more capacity, to the Sig 556.

Here it is from another angle, along with a Sig light-laser combo, also being blown out at a significant discount.

Victory Industries has some odd things going for it in its product line. Their M14 magazines are used by the American military. Their Glock clone magazines are produced under license from Glock. They make MP5 and SA80 magazines that must be part of some agreement with H&K. And then there's this C-mag clone, which I only saw on Monday.

While all the patents and designs are probably public domain by now, you can't make all these goodies without some sort of approval of the original makers.

Tomorrow, more unplanned gunsmithing on the M1911. I think I'm starting to like the .45ACP round, which is why I bought the H&K, and another 1500 rounds of ball ammo this week.

[SuziQ]

it should still give me more reach than the generic AK47, and the generic zombie behind it.

*snort*

[osagebowman]

Nice new shootin’ iron; looking forward to a range report, once you’ve had a chance to ‘win-mag the internals’.

“What’s not to like with the .45, the 9mm and .38 may expand or not but the .45 never shrinks. “ author unknown.

[Squantos]

Good report.....:o)

Here is a link to give ya some ideas on the UCS to USB conversion per se...........

http://www.tacticalexcellence.com/

[Ramius]

Interesting score on the HK. I think you’re right about the +P in that long barrel. Probably a very good combination. A crum mag on that would be most appropriate.

[300winmag]

A crum mag on that would be most appropriate.

I think you probably mean "drum" magazine. They already have that. It's called a Tommy Gun. It also weighs a ton, even without the 50 or super-rare 100-round drum.

[Ramius]

Oops. Yes... drum magazine. -doh-

[300winmag]

Here's a bunch of M1911 stuff for the Sunday Supplement.

First, installing grip screw bushings, in this case, on an aluminum-frame weapon. John M. Browning used bushings to provide enough depth for a longer grip screw, while not increasing the thickness of the frame. That's one reason why the M1911 is relatively thin, because the frame is no thicker than needed to hold a bushing to hold the grip screw.

Unfortunately, Browning chose a hole size and thread count that is not used by anything else on earth. He could have designed something that used a standard piece of tooling, but noooo, it's an oddball size that your average hardware store never even knew existed. Here's a set of bushing tools you'll need for a proper job.

The punch on top is used with the busing staking tool below it. Underneath that is bushing itself, with the unique super-fine threads that screw into the frame. Underneath that is the special tap that you must have to clean up or re-tap the threads in the frame. Bushings are only a couple of bucks each, and can be considered expendable. The frame of your handgun isn't.

Because the Kimber has an aluminum frame, and I was screwing in the bushing (rather than the grip screw), I was afraid the threads might have problems, so I ran the tape through the hole to make sure everything was still good. Then I used a special screwdriver bit (not shown) that has the correct-thickness screw driver slot, and an outer shell to protect the bushing. After that, I then used the staking tool on all four bushings to prevent future problems.

The punch goes through the top bushing so you can stake the bottom one with a whack from a hammer. Since the grips started to loosen up after the first firing, I thought the screws needed tightening. But it was the bushings themselves that needed attention. So I tightened and staked the first three, and then installed another for hole #4.

So now I have the Covert Ultra with regular grips back on, and a good chance that this problem won't be happening again. I'll stake the other .45s if it seems that grips screws start loosening after firing.

Kimber did use red Loctite on the stock bushings when one of their people installed the Crimson Trace laser grips. Perhaps that's why three bushings held, even though the screws loosened up. On the fourth, he must not have paid enough attention, and used the Loctite on the screw, and not the bushing. I'm left with a $350 gadget that has the screw and bushing permanently attached, until I figure a way of getting them off without destroying the grip.

With what I've learned shooting the 1911, and handguns in general, I'm not so sold on lasers any more for handguns. I've also learned a lot more about proper grip, and trigger finger positioning, which is not so absolutely critical on a rifle compared to a handgun. And as I've worked on these handguns, and gotten more faith in how they work, and what I've done to them, I find myself thinking less about their own internal workings, and more about my own. I now have a short trigger on the Ultra Covert, and am aware that when I see holes on the left side of the target, I have to correct my finger position on the trigger.

I'm getting better at it, and just need to make a habit of getting it right the first time. I also shoot at 10 yards, which is almost 50% further away than the standard "defensive range". If I can be good at 10, I should also be good at 7.

[ExGeeEye]

RIP Guenter Wendt.

"I vonder vhere Guenter Wendt?"

[SuziQ]

LOL! Pad Fuhrer! I'll have to watch Apollo 13 again sometime to catch that line!

[SuziQ]

Interesting also, that he’d been let go after the Gemini program, but after the Apollo 1 tragedy, the remaining astronauts themselves demanded his return.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

Two recent news items from ‘The Hobbit’

Sir Ian McKellan says he is in contract negotiations for the last couple of weeks,, although no green light has been given for the movies as of yet.

The second rumor is that 70 year old Australian actor Jack Thompson is being considered for the part of Thorin Oakenshield. He is probably best known for his roles in ‘Breaker Morant’, ‘The Man from Snowy River’’, ‘Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil’, and ‘Star Wars, Episode II’.

I think he would be splendid.

[SuziQ]

Oh, I like Jack Thompson a lot! He’d be great as Thorin!

[Corin Stormhands]

At Patient First to get hand rebandaged.

In good news Jr. has worked every day for the last seven days.

[SuziQ]

So what exactly did you do to your hand? When I sliced my finger with my brand new knife, I went to the Doc in a Box in our town. It was a very good experience. The Doc was knowledgeable, efficient, and very pleasant; all I need in a basic medical professional.